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X-Ray Irradiation Improved WSe2 Optical-Electrical Synapse for Handwritten Digit Recognition.
Chuanwen Chen1, Qi Sun1, Yaxian Lu1
1Center on Nano-Energy Research, Guangxi Key Laboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 26, 2025
Summary
X-ray irradiation effectively engineers defects in 2D WSe2 materials, enhancing synaptic plasticity for neuromorphic computing. This defect modulation improves device performance and handwritten digit recognition accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer unique properties for neuromorphic computing.
- Controllable synaptic behavior via defect engineering in 2D materials is a key challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate X-ray irradiation as a method to modulate defect states and enhance synaptic plasticity in WSe2-based optoelectronic synapses.
- To demonstrate the potential of defect engineering for improving neuromorphic device performance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized X-ray irradiation to introduce selenium vacancies in WSe2.
- Evaluated electrical and optical responses of WSe2 synapses under various stimulation conditions.
- Assessed synaptic weight modulation nonlinearity and performance in a handwritten digit recognition task (MNIST).
Main Results:
- X-ray irradiation significantly improved electrical and optical responses by introducing selenium vacancies.
- Enhanced short-term potentiation (STP) with improved excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) retention.
- Reduced nonlinearity in long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), extending signal decay time.
- Improved handwritten digit recognition accuracy from 88.5% to 93.75% in a CrossSim-simulated MNIST task.
Conclusions:
- X-ray irradiation is an effective strategy for defect engineering in 2D materials for neuromorphic applications.
- Modulated defect states enhance synaptic plasticity and improve device performance.
- This approach offers a universal method for tuning synaptic weights in 2D materials.
